LIX Pen Review – Is This Circular 3D Printing Pen Worth Buying?

LIX is a unique pen that you can use to craft 3D objects. Find out everything you need to know about the LIX pen today in our review.

What Is LIX?

LIX describes itself as “the smallest circular 3D pen in the world”. The pen lets you draw lines in a 3D space.

LIX is like a blend between a 3D printer and a pen. You activate the pen, then create lines in a 3D space. Those lines cool after leaving the pen, which means they harden and remain in place. You can use LIX to create rigid, freestanding structures.

The pen launched on Kickstarter in 2014 and quickly achieved its funding target, raising nearly $1 million through the crowdfunding campaign.

The first prototype was made in 2013, and the products were scheduled to begin shipping in September 2014, but were delayed until 2015. Today, the LIX 3D Pen is available to order online at a price of around $140 from the official website.

How Does LIX Work?

You stick a rod into your LIX 3D pen. That rod contains colored plastic. The pen uses a filament to melt that colored plastic, and you start drawing with the pen. The plastic cools on contact with the air.

There are two filaments available, including an ABS filament and a PLA filament. The ABS filament has a higher melting point, which gives you structures with greater strength, flexibility, and malleability.

The PLA filament, on the other hand, comes in a range of different colors and uses plant-based materials. The PLA filament gives you less strength and flexibility, and is also sensitive to moisture.

How To Use LIX

Using LIX is straightforward. Here’s how to get started:

Step 1) Plug in the power cable

Step 2) Wait for the pen to charge (it takes about one minute for the pen to reach the right heat level)

The pen is packaged into an aluminum body. Other key parts of the pen include the filament input, power socket, LED heat indicator on the side, and the speed control buttons. All of this technology is packaged into a 6.45 inch pen.

LIX 3D Pen Pricing

The LIX 3D Pen is available online at a price of $139.95.

You can choose between Black matte or Gray matte colors. Your purchase includes one pen, one external power adapter, and one bag of random color ABS filament (each bag contains 40 rod refills).

You can buy PLA or ABS refills for $10. You choose your color and decide whether you want “true color” or translucent refills.

Who Makes LIX?

The LIX 3D Pen is made by a company called LIX. That company was founded by co-founders Ismail Baran, Anton Suvorov, and Delphine Eloise Wood. The trio created the first LIX 3D Pen prototype in 2013.

LIX 3D Pen Review: What Do Real Customers Have To Say?

Most major tech blogs have reviewed the LIX 3D Pen. Mashable, for example, explained that the pen “isn’t too difficult” to setup, but it is difficult to create anything cool with the LIX 3D Pen.

Unless you have some inherent artistic ability, you’re probably going to resign yourself to making cubes and pyramids.

That being said, you don’t have to look far online to find people who have made incredibly intricate designs with their LIX 3D Pen – including designs for clothing or even decorative items for around the house.

The Mashable reviewer, by the way, also described the pen as “fragile” and claimed that the pen stops working after about 30 minutes of continuous use. That reviewer eventually summed up by saying that,

“The LIX 3D-printing pen is as small as promised, but there’s more to 3D printing than size; things like output and build quality matter — a lot — and the LIX doesn't really deliver.”

Another tech blog, TheGadgetFlow.com, gave the pen an editors’ rating of 4 stars out of 5.

You can also find LIX reviews on artist blogs and personal blogs across the internet, where it’s generally well-reviewed.

Ultimately, the LIX 3D Pen is designed mostly for artistic types who are looking to create designs in a new medium. If you’re not artistic, then the novelty of the LIX 3D Pen could wear off quickly.

Should You Buy LIX?

LIX is a unique product that seems like something from the future: the pen lets you create 3 dimensional objects as easily as drawing on a piece of paper. The pen is well-reviewed online and works as advertised to 3D print objects from the tip of a handheld pen.

You can find incredibly intricate designs created with LIX online, but most people will find themselves creating basic shapes with the pen – unless you’re already an artistic person.

The LIX 3D Pen is available online today at a price of around $140. Refills are priced at $10. You can order LIX through the official website at LIXPen.com.